The present invention is directed to a bracket for use in an article information display system, and more particularly, to a bracket for coupling a rail to a conventional shelf edge for use in an article information display system.
Article information display systems are commonly used to provide variable information about various products. The system typically utilizes price tags having a variable display surface, such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) surface, to electronically display information about an associated, adjacent product. For example, price, price per unit weight, or other information may be displayed on the LCD display. A system controller controls the information displayed on a price tag. In this manner, the displayed information can be updated from a central location, and the controller can be coupled to the check-out scanners to ensure that the check-out price is consistent with the displayed price. Such article information display systems may be used in supermarkets, drug stores, grocery stores, hardware stores, auto parts stores, or other settings where variable article information is desired to be displayed.
In order to install such a display system, an auxiliary rail that is designed to receive and interact with an electronic display tag is mounted to conventional store shelves. Existing store shelves are preferably retrofitted to receive the auxiliary rail thereon. The auxiliary rail includes a conductor loop running along its length, and the electronic tag includes a coil extending around its periphery. When the electronic tag is mounted with the auxiliary rail, the conductor in the rail communicates with the coil in the tag by inductive coupling to convey information from the controller to the tag.
Various brackets and attachment means have been designed for attaching an auxiliary rail to an existing conventional shelf edge. For example, U.S. application Ser. No. 09/253,338 filed Feb. 19, 1999, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses various attachment brackets. The bracket of the present invention provides several advantages over the attachment methods.
The present invention is a bracket that enables the installation of auxiliary rails and other components of an electronic display tag system onto conventional, preexisting store shelving assemblies. The bracket does not require any structural modification to preexisting shelving assemblies, is quickly and easily mounted to the shelf edge using conventional hand tools, and does not require removal of products from the shelves. The bracket also includes one or more rail receiving portions, such as grooves, to facilitate the attachment of the bracket to the rail, the grooves receiving melted portions of the rail when the rail is attached to the bracket by heat staking. Furthermore, the bracket of the present invention is shaped to reduce detuning of the electronic tags that are received in the rail, thereby improving the operating characteristics of the display system.
In particular, the present invention is a bracket for coupling a rail having an upper slot and a lower slot to a shelf edge having an upper groove and a lower groove. The bracket comprises a central body portion, an upper flange extending generally upwardly from the body portion, a lower flange extending generally downwardly from the body portion, and a plate. The plate is received between the upper and the lower flanges such that as the plate is moved toward the body, the plate urges the upper flange and the lower flange into the upper and lower groove, respectively, to couple the bracket to the shelf edge. The bracket further comprises a first upper tang extending generally upwardly from the body portion and a first lower tang extending generally downwardly from the body portion, the upper tang and lower tang being shaped to be received in the upper and lower slot, respectively. At least one of the tangs has at least one rail receiving portion therein to facilitate the attachment of the bracket to the rail.
The present invention is also directed to a rail for receiving an electronic display tag therein and for being coupled to a bracket. The rail comprises a central body having a front surface and a rear surface, an upper finger extending from the front surface, and a lower finger extending from the front surface and spaced from the upper finger. The upper finger and the lower finger define a channel to receive an electronic display tag therein. The rail further comprises an upper lip extending from the rear surface and defining an upper slot for receiving an upper tang of a bracket therein, the upper lip being shaped to maintain the upper tang in the upper slot. The rail further includes a lower lip extending from the rear surface and defining a lower slot for receiving a lower tang of the bracket therein, the lower lip being shaped to maintain the lower tang is the lower slot.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.